Ramushin
by Naomi Shihoin
Summary: Takes place after the events of chapter 3 of Through Our Eyes, where Yoruichi, Soi Fon, Kisuke, Tessai and Shinji's party had already left, but before the next day's events of chapters 4 and 5. It is the flashback that is hinted at in chapter 4 just before Neliel makes her declaration to Nnoitra and releases her Zanpakutō.


_I may have started two days behind schedule, but it's done now. Ramushin is finally here, a day early even._

_Credit goes to Aiko Isari for the name Ramushin._

_An explanation is in order. I was going to start writing this last Friday, but I fell sick and the whole "being sick" thing drained my energy. Then I was going to do it on Saturday, but got engrossed in watching season 1 of Bleach, up to episode 3. I thought I'd better hunker down and write it on Sunday; otherwise it wouldn't be ready in time to be posted._

_To all of you who are viewing Through Our Eyes and to eusocialdragon and QueenPersephoneofHades for reviewing, I want to thank you all. People are somewhat interested in my story and if you guys hadn't kept viewing it, I wouldn't have come up with the ideas for it that I have. So thank you very much_.

**Summary**: Takes place after the events of chapter 3 of Through Our Eyes, where Yoruichi, Soi Fon, Kisuke, Tessai and Shinji's party had already left, but before the next day's events of chapters 4 and 5. It is the flashback that is hinted at in chapter 4 just before Neliel makes her declaration to Nnoitra and releases her Zanpakutō.

**AN/Disclaimer**: Bleach and all of the characters in it are the property of Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump. I own nothing, except for the changes to the canon I made and my OCs. This is an AU take on the anime/manga, so expect there to be many things that are different in my story.

_Welcome to Ramushin_.

_**Ramushin**_

— Sōkyoku Hill hidden training ground —

Shunsui lay as if asleep, his back resting against the wall behind him, his arms pulled up behind his head. His straw hat was tilted over his face, but Neliel's Fifth Seat Rangiku Matsumoto and Shunsui's lieutenant Shigeru Yadōmaru knew the captain was merely pretending as he waited for the _true_ Hollowfication process to begin. Rangiku and Shigeru stood in the centre of the training ground, Neliel a small distance away from them, her body becoming as stiff as a board as her mask started wrapping itself around her face, the cry of a Hollow rushing from her mouth.

_Captain Kyōraku doesn't want us to fail. But how long is this going to take?_ Shigeru thought to himself, already cross, and the battle hadn't even begun. He turned slightly, his gaze falling on his captain's motionless form. "Hey, Captain, are you going to help us?"

Neliel let out another roar and swung her arm around, Yadōmaru's eyes widening as he reacted, leaping over the arm and flipping in mid-air, landing on hard ground. _Is she losing?_ He thought indifferently, his eyes grimly flicking over the woman, Hollow-like protrusions forming on her shoulders and elbows, her breath a low rattling sound. Darting towards him, Neliel's legs were taking on the form of hooved limbs, but she was poised to strike nonetheless. Shigeru caught the hand and spun around, leaping into the air and landing a hard kick on Neliel's jaw, causing the woman to stagger backwards, spluttering.

_I can't hold him forever, Captain Odelschwanck!_ He cursed, grimacing at the sight. His foot hurt; the mask had done a number over him more than he had expected. Neliel bellowed and brought down her fist, a huge crater appearing in the ground, shaking the building. Shigeru was already gone, behind Neliel, the lieutenant spinning around to punch at her neck.

_I can't strike the face anymore; my foot almost broke before!_ groaned Shigeru, Neliel towering over him. Swinging a hand, Neliel aimed at Yadōmaru, the Shinigami ducking, crouching and springing up, his elbow slamming into Neliel's stomach. He prepared another attack, but coughed violently as he felt Neliel's fist collide with his back. His chin was warm with blood and he hit the floor, rolling away. Neliel unleashed a terrible cry, the piercing sound of a Hollow echoing through the room.

_Shit… Captain Odelschwanck should be able to defeat her Hollow!_ Yadōmaru panted, struggling to rise to his feet, blood dripping onto the ground. Neliel began to advance on the fallen Shinigami, smoke drifting from the open jaws of her Hollow mask, the eye sockets having an empty blackness. Shigeru raised his arm and prepared to fire a Kido, when blood suddenly spurted out of Neliel's shoulder, the woman screaming. Behind her stood Shunsui, an amused smile on his face.

"My oh my, that's not the wake up call I wanted!" he greeted, Neliel swinging her limb around roughly, Shunsui ducking and slashing her side, blood gushing out of it. "Can't let my Neliel walk over Shigeru, can we, Katen Kyōkotsu?"

"Tch," Shigeru spat. "Spare me, Captain Kyōraku; we all know you were pretending."

Neliel's hand came crashing down onto a surprised Shunsui's back, the Soul Reaper shunpoing just in time. Shunsui reappeared behind her, hovering in the air.

"My Neliel, what's taking so long?" Shunsui murmured. Neliel roared ominously, Shunsui sighing and flinging his straw hat to the ground. "My oh my… Hey, Rangiku, we'll do this together." The captain called over to Neliel's Fifth Seat, who nodded at once and rushed to join in the action.

"I won't let a Hollow take over my captain's body!" Rangiku vowed.

Neliel let out another roar and lunged for Shunsui, but the man stood still, the enemy closing in. Suddenly, Shunsui threw his head up and whipped his arm around, Rangiku not even seeing his blades. Blood exploded from Neliel's elbow as her forearm was severed, Shunsui standing behind her.

Neliel was behind him, a bubbling, white mass of sludge shooting out of her wound, reforming her arm.

"Captain, high-speed regeneration!" Rangiku cried out, but Shunsui was already gone, Neliel's other arm lying on the floor. Shunsui skidded to a halt on the ground, dust flinging up into the air as he spun around, pivoting on one foot. Neliel's arms were now completely covered in the white liquid and a tail was forming from the base of her spine, as the woman screamed: a horrific, blood-curdling cry. As Shunsui turned, Neliel opened her mouth, the jaws of the ram parting. Shunsui's eyes widened as a red ball of light began to form in his opponent's mouth, the blast hurtling towards Shunsui.

_I can't dodge!_ He realized, the blast almost upon him, but then something leapt in the way. The Cero spun out of control before dissipating into thin air. Standing in front of him was Rangiku, the woman breathing heavily and her face bleeding as she held her bladeless Zanpakutō in front of her. _She released Haineko_, he decided, about to speak but Rangiku held up her hand.

"We'll do this together, Kyōraku, just like you said. We'll help you, just as you help us," she muttered darkly, Shunsui nodding and Shigeru coming up to stand next to them. Leaping together, they darted towards Neliel, all three of their Zanpakutō pointing at her. Shigeru swung his around; cutting off one of the enemy's legs, blood spraying onto the ground as she let out a booming shriek. "Now, Shunsui!" came Rangiku's voice and Shunsui aimed his swords at Neliel, ready to incapicitate when all he saw suddenly was white as Neliel roared again, her large hand drove itself into Shunsui's chest and slammed him into the ground below. Shunsui choked, his head hitting the ground, knocking him unconscious. Shigeru was already there, slicing off the limb Neliel had used to perform the action. He picked up Shunsui and shunpoed, narrowly avoiding the woman's sweeping movement.

_Captain Odelschwanck is transforming quickly. She must be really losing. She'll become a full Hollow soon… and I'll have no choice but to kill her, which is something I'd rather not do_, Shigeru pondered, landing a short distance away. He glanced down at Shunsui, but the man was not stirring. Neliel had arrived now, her body almost fully Hollow. Cursing, Shigeru back flipped away from her, landing roughly on the ground beside Rangiku who had shunpoed to them. Shigeru bounded up to Neliel, grappling with the woman's neck before kicking off of her, Neliel falling to the ground. The 8th Division's lieutenant collapsed on one knee and Rangiku shunpoed behind him to protect her fellow Shinigami from a lethal lashing out from Neliel, who acted almost mindlessly now, and blood ran from Rangiku's frontal area. The Fifth Seat was thrown into a wall, dust billowing out, debris scattering across the floor.

_I don't think Kisuke would be very happy his secret training area is getting destroyed… but right now, that's the least of my concerns. What is taking my captain so long?!_ Rangiku bared her teeth in pain, as Neliel advanced on her.

Neliel closed in on Rangiku, the woman cursing as she attempted to get back on her feet. The Hollowfied Shinigami leered down at her and Rangiku braced herself, rising raggedly to her feet. Instantly, Neliel roared and lunged for her, Shigeru shunpoing in front of her and grabbing the other woman's wrist, Neliel shrieking behind her gruesome mask. Back flipping, Shigeru's feet struck Neliel on the chin, but both he and Rangiku knew it hadn't done any damage.

He was suddenly struck in the side by Neliel, the Shinigami growling madly, Shigeru falling gracelessly to the floor. Neliel began to advance on him, but stopped and turned, Shunsui's body in view. Shigeru sat up slightly and prepared to shunpo over to him, the Hollowfied Shinigami appearing over the unconscious man, her massive hand raised. The cry of a Hollow escaping her jaws, Shunsui's eyes fluttered open as Neliel roared. Shigeru shunpoed, reappearing behind Neliel, his Zanpakutō drawn in a flash. Quickly, however, the other hand grabbed Shigeru's Zanpakutō.

_Damn it, Captain Odelschwanck!_ Shigeru cursed, the Soul Reaper staring into the mask, its dark eye sockets lifeless and empty, cold air escaping through the mask's jaws. Neliel aimed her right hand at Shigeru's chest, Rangiku's eyes widening in shock at the sight, Shigeru cursing as he struggled to free himself. Almost out of nowhere, someone appeared in the air above Neliel and spun around to bring their leg down hard on her back, before following through with a punch to the face, Neliel spiralling to one side.

"Who…?" Shigeru muttered, Rangiku squinting to see. Emerging from the dust that was settling down was... Shunsui. "My oh my, she's finding it hard, isn't she?" he whispered, drawing his two Zanpakutō.

Shigeru watched this in amazement, while Rangiku thought to herself. _He was knocked unconscious and now he's wide awake; how does he do that?_

Shigeru stepped in to help Shunsui, the lieutenant grabbing Neliel's head and ramming it through a wall, dust and rock fragments riccocheting everywhere. Shunsui pounced, the Hollowfied Shinigami charging a Cero from her mouth. Shunsui angled his sword at her, swinging it around and deflecting the Cero into hundreds of red lines of light, each one burning holes in the ground before vanishing. Quick as a flash, he sent his sword through Neliel's shoulder, the Shinigami crying out as blood spattered on the floor.

"You're done for! I'm ending this!" Shigeru barked, seeing that Neliel was almost fully Hollow.

"Wait, Shigeru!" Rangiku cried out, Shunsui spinning around. Cracks had suddenly appeared on Neliel's mask, red lights shooting out of them. Shunsui thrust his arms forward, twisting around and deflecting the blast into the wall with a huge bang, the silver light illuminating the room.

"What's the big idea-?!" Shigeru snapped, but he turned as Neliel screeched a deafening cry, the cracks covering her entire body now. With a massive burst of wind, the pieces of the mask flew off of Neliel, the entire Hollow body shattering like glass, leaving the haori-wearing captain underneath, her eyes hidden by her downturned face.

_My oh my, my Neliel. You did it!_ Shunsui thought happily, as Neliel staggered before collapsing, Rangiku catching her.

"I-Idiot Shigeru; you were going to slice me, weren't you?" Neliel lightly laughed before passing out, Rangiku breathing a sigh of relief.


End file.
